Yep. They were probably right. You don't want your battery to be
sitting connected for any length of time, without charging. Even in a
car. The least you should do is disconnect it. There is always a
parasitic draw from something, even the battery itself. I let mine sit
for about 4 months, and being the lazy person I am, I disconnect the
battery for that time, then throw it on a trickle charger for a week
before I use it. Not the best, but...
Lead acid batteries are funny that way. They are okay with deep
discharge cycles, but no good at small discharges.
Viggy
Dennis wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I'm in New Zealand now. I arrived down here about two weeks ago. While I
> was gone, my motorcycle here sat for about 9 months with the battery in it.
> Needless to say, it was flat when I got back. I put the charger on it and
> got the bike ('85 CB700SC) started and all seemed well - until two days
> later when the battery was flat again. Another charge and two more days of
> good running and then flat again.
>
> I took it into a shop today to make sure the alternator was putting charge
> into it and it seemed to be. So, after chatting with the mechanic, I
> stepped up and bought a new battery.
>
> Now that I'm home, I'm wondering if that was the right thing to do or if I
> should have been more patient and debugged things a bit further before
> pulling out my wallet.
>
> The folks at the shop told me that a battery can definitely be ruined by
> leaving it in a bike like that for so long. They said something about
> 'sulfation' - which I didn't really understand.
>
> I also asked them how I should store a battery if I'm going to be gone that
> long and their only suggestion was to buy a 'battery minder' and use it to
> keep that battery topped up while I'm gone. That seemed a bit extreme to
> me for six to nine months. Surely there must be another way?
>
> You thoughts and comments would be appreciated.
>
> Dennis G.
> - Seattle, Washington
> - Christchurch, New Zealand
>
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